Racing Change On Move in the House

After a Senate committee put the issue on hold, a House panel Tuesday continued moving forward with a proposal that would eventually allow Florida’s two thoroughbred horse tracks to offer other types of gambling without holding races. The House Commerce Committee voted 17-9 to approve a wide-ranging gambling bill that includes what is known as “decoupling” for Gulfstream Park in South Florida and Tampa Bay Downs. Under current law, the tracks are required to run races to be able to operate card rooms and, in the case of Gulfstream, slot machines. Under the bill, however, they would effectively be required to run races for five more years before they could “decouple” — offering the other types of gambling without holding races. The proposal has drawn fierce opposition from breeders, trainers and other people in the horse industry, who say it would lead to the demise of thoroughbred racing in the state — and devastate the industry, which is centered in the Ocala area. Jena Antonucci, a prominent trainer, told the House committee that decoupling would destabilize the industry and be “nothing but a countdown to collapse.” But Rep. Adam Anderson, a Palm Harbor Republican who has spearheaded the proposal, said parts of the bill such as the minimum five more years of racing would give the industry time to adjust. Gulfstream supports decoupling. Anderson originally had a stand-alone bill on the issue, but it is now included in the broader gambling measure. Shortly before the House committee took up the issue Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee postponed consideration of a decoupling bill (SB 408).